Foster Makes Most of Mackie Mixing Grieves

Live sound engineer Val Foster has been using a Mackie DL1608 digital live sound console to mix both FOH and monitors for Seattle hip-hop act, Grieves, finding the right balance between keys, guitars, grooves, backing tracks and live vocals nightly.

Seattle, WA (May 19, 2014)—Live sound engineer Val Foster has been using a Mackie DL1608 digital live sound console to mix both FOH and monitors for Seattle hip-hop act, Grieves, finding the right balance between keys, guitars, grooves, backing tracks and live vocals nightly.

The set up is streamlined in a single rack, Foster noted: "The DL1608 sits on top, and there's a 16 channel splitter in the rack. Out of the splitter, I connect to the house console. It's a pretty simple system." He then uses the DL1608's eight balanced outputs to feed the band's stereo in-ear mixes.

"When we have tech rehearsals, we play through each song and we make sure that everyone's levels are correct,” said Foster. “We save those in a snapshot and then when the show starts, I just switch scenes for them when the song comes up."

Foster has been making the most of the console, also using its iPad control features to walk around the venue and mix as needed. "Except for the graphic EQ on the masters, we are using pretty much every single channel and every single feature the board has," he said. "I love the reverbs, the vintage compressor and emulation. The gates are great for some of the things that have noise on them, or don't get used much. And we do a lot of stereo stuff, so having the ability to link channels is helping out a lot."